


Revenge

by Jestana



Series: Life and Death [3]
Category: RED (2010)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-09
Updated: 2010-12-09
Packaged: 2017-10-13 14:15:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/138267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jestana/pseuds/Jestana
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There had to be fallout to the way things played out at the end.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Revenge

**Author's Note:**

> Beta by unicorn_catcher on LJ and thanks for her help with the last scene. Rating for subtle hints at naughtiness.

**Revenge**

  
Victoria sighed deeply as she entered the hotel room ahead of Ivan. Finally, they were alone! As much as she liked Frank, Sarah and, grudgingly, Marvin, it was a relief to be away from them and have Ivan all to herself. Hanging her fur coat in the closet, she asked, "Are you _really_ going to have Francis take care of that problem in Moldova?"

"Unfortunately, yes." She felt him come up behind her to hang his own coat up. "He is the best person for the job, apart from you."

She turned to him with a smile, sliding her arms around his waist. "So why not ask me to take care of it?"

"Because I couldn't help him sneak into CIA headquarters without asking for a favour in return," he explained, his hands resting on her hips. "And I'd rather keep you to myself for a little longer. We have many years to catch up on."

Victoria smiled, leaning into his larger body gladly. "I don't think we'll ever be able to properly catch up on those lost years."

"We can certainly try." Ivan grinned as he scooped her up into his arms and carried her over to the bed, setting her down gently beside it.

Smiling fondly, she sat down so she could remove her boots. "Why don't we start by telling each other what we've been doing with ourselves all this time?"

"After I recovered from the bullets in my chest, I was assigned to the diplomatic corps," he told her, sitting down beside her on the bed to remove his own boots. "My superiors felt, if I could persuade the deadliest shot in MI6 to shoot to injure rather than kill, I would be a great asset as a diplomat."

Victoria laughed, greatly amused. "You always _were_ very persuasive."

"Spasibo1." Ivan tilted her head up to kiss her softly. "I always did like your laugh."

She was still smiling when he lifted his head, lifting her hand to caress his cheek. "I missed you so much."

"That makes two of us, then." He turned his head to kiss her palm, sending tingles through her. "What happened to you? I know you ended up in America, working for the CIA, but what else happened?"

Victoria sighed and lay back on the bed. "I resigned from MI6 after I shot you. I couldn't keep working for them after that. That's when I moved to America and joined the CIA. I worked for them until I got too old to be sent into the field, and then lived quietly at the Eagle's Nest. Until a few days ago, anyway."

"Why do I get the feeling there is something you are not telling me, Bunny?" Ivan stretched out beside her, gazing thoughtfully at her.

She simply smiled and rolled onto her side to kiss him, hoping to distract him from asking more questions. It seemed to have worked, because he responded happily to her kiss. _I **will** tell you, Ivan. Someday..._

* * *

  
Victoria groaned when she woke to the sound of pounding on her front door. "What is this? Has my home become a railway station?"

"We should answer it, Bunny," Ivan told her, stroking her arm. "It could be important."

She placed her hand on his chest, urging him to lie back down. " _I'll_ answer it. _You_ go back to sleep. You had a long day at the embassy."

"Don't take too long." He brought her hand up and kissed the palm.

Smiling, she caressed his cheek before getting up to put on her robe, checking that her gun was in its pocket holster in her robe. _If it's someone hoping to catch me by surprise, **they'll** be surprised..._ As she quietly exited her room, she saw Frank poke his bald head out of the room down the corridor. "Victoria?"

"I'll handle this, Francis. You go back to bed." She squeezed his arm lightly. He studied her for a few moments before nodding and returning to the guest room where Sarah likely had dozens of questions for him. In the meantime, the pounding on the front door hadn't let up, so Victoria hurried down the stairs to open the door, one hand on the gun in her robe pocket. She stared in surprise at the familiar figure on her doorstep, his hand still raised to pound on the door. "Agent Cooper. Are you here to kill us?"

He shook his head, his hand dropping to his side. "No, I need to talk to Frank Moses. Is he here?"

"Yes, he just got back yesterday." She stepped aside so the CIA agent could enter. "I take it whatever it is you need to see Francis about can't wait?"

Cooper nodded as he stepped past her into the house. When she turned on the hall light, Victoria noticed that his brown hair was tousled and unkempt, his dark suit was wrinkled, and his tie undone. Most of all, though, she observed that his eyes were bloodshot with dark circles under them. "I'm sorry to disturb you at this hour, but it's important."

"I'll go get him." She waved him into the sitting room. "Just have a seat and he'll be right down."

As the brunette shuffled into the sitting room, Victoria hurried back up the stairs. She knocked on the guest room door and it was Sarah who opened it this time. "It's Agent Cooper. He wants to speak with Francis."

"How does he look?" Frank asked, materialising beside Sarah at the bedroom door.

She shook her head sadly, thinking of the man downstairs. "Bad."

"All right." Frank tied the belt of his robe around his waist. "I'll go see what he wants."

Sarah caught his arm and kissed him softly. "Be careful."

"I will." He kissed her back and headed downstairs.

The two women watched him until they could no longer see him. Turning to Sarah, Victoria said, "I don't know about you, but I'm not going to be able to sleep until I find out what's going on. Would you like some coffee?"

"You read my mind." Sarah smiled and went downstairs with Victoria.

They crossed the hall to the kitchen, straining their ears to catch any hint of Frank and Cooper's conversation, but the two men were talking in low voices, so neither woman heard anything of interest. A little disappointed, Victoria started the coffee maker while Sarah found coffee mugs and set them out on the counter. Raising an eyebrow when she counted them, the elder told the younger, "You got out too many."

"Do you _seriously_ think Marvin and Ivan are going to stay in bed?" Sarah asked, arching her own eyebrows at the blonde.

Chuckling wryly, Victoria conceded the point, getting out creamer, sugar, and milk. By the time the coffee was ready, Cooper and Frank appeared in the kitchen doorway. The former took his black while the latter added several spoonfuls of sugar to his. Just as they sat down at the table, with Sarah taking the seat beside Frank, Ivan made his appearance, having pulled on his own robe and slippers. "I thought you were going to come back to bed, ZAychik moy?"

"Agent Cooper needs Francis' help," she explained, handing Ivan the cup of coffee she'd prepared just the way he liked.

He smiled faintly and kissed her cheek, leading her over to the table where they took seats near the other three. Last of all, Marvin peered cautiously into the kitchen. "Come in, Marvin. Might as well have William tell us all at once."

"Are you sure?" Cooper asked, looking warily at them as Marvin, fully dressed, sniffed cautiously at the last coffee mug and tasted it with the tip of his tongue.

As Marvin, apparently deciding the coffee wasn't poisoned, took a larger sip and sat down at the table, Frank told the younger man: "I trust these people with my life, Cooper. Does that say anything?"

"Actually, it does." The agent took a moment to sip his coffee. "What I was trying to say earlier is that my family's been kidnapped."

Victoria didn't quite stifle a gasp, grasping Ivan's hand tightly under the table. She knew what that felt like. First she'd lost the man she loved, and then she'd given up her children. Ivan squeezed her hand gently as she asked, "Do you have any idea who kidnapped them?"

"Whoever they are, they're good," Cooper replied, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "The FBI has been through my house top to bottom and they didn't find _anything_ useful."

Sarah stood up and moved around Frank's chair to rub the brunette's shoulders comfortingly. "Is that why you came to Frank?"

"Pretty much." The agent dropped his hands from his face and looked up at her with a wan smile. Something niggled at the back of Victoria's mind, but she ignored it as Cooper looked at Frank. "I'm going out on a limb here asking you, but I'll do whatever it takes to get my family back."

Frank met the other man's eyes steadily, his expression determined. "I'll help you, but I'm going to need all the information the FBI has already and anything you think might be useful."

"It's in my truck," Cooper told him, relief evident in his face and voice. "I'll go get it."

He stood up to leave and stumbled, catching himself on the back of his chair. Sarah helped steady him, concern on her face. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm just tired." His reassuring smile was more of a grimace. "I haven't slept in almost thirty-six hours."

Sarah glanced at Victoria and the older woman nodded. "You aren't going anywhere except upstairs to the guest room to get some sleep."

"I'm perfectly capable of going out to my car to get the file Frank needs," Cooper glowered at her, starting around the table.

Marvin stopped him before he'd gone a couple steps. "Victoria's the deadliest shot of any of us and she could still take you without a gun."

"Thank you for the compliment, Marvin." She rolled her eyes at him.

The young man stared at her in surprise. "Victoria _Winslow_?"

"That would be me." Victoria nodded, raising her eyebrows at his surprise.

"You're a legend," Cooper informed her, admiration in his gaze. "No one had bested your scores on the firing range, until I came along."

Frank gave a wry laugh at that. "That explains why you were able to shoot me when the only other person who's managed it is Victoria."

"It's an honour, Ma'am." The brunette moved closer, offering his hand to her.

Victoria shook it with a wry chuckle. "Does this mean you're going to go upstairs and get some sleep? You won't do your family any good if you're not well-rested."

"Yes, Ma'am." He dug into his pocket for his keys and tossed them to Frank.

Pleased that Cooper had seen sense, Victoria turned to lead him upstairs, showing him to the first guest bedroom on the landing. He barely managed to get his shoes off and set his gun on the bedside table before he lay down and fell asleep. Shaking her head bemusedly, she closed the door and went back downstairs to join the others. They had a family to rescue.

* * *

  
When William woke up the next morning in an unfamiliar bedroom, his first instinct was to grab his gun and roll off the bed into a defensive position beside it. After a few moments, his brain woke up enough to remember where he was and that he was in no danger. Carefully tucking his gun into its holster, he straightened up and stretched. How long had he slept? A glance out the window told him it was sometime in the afternoon. Absently running his hand through his hair, he opened the door, stepped into the hallway, and nearly collided with Sarah. "Oh! You're finally awake! How are you feeling?"

"Well-rested." He smiled faintly, remembering what she'd been like while she'd been in custody. "Um, where's the bathroom?"

Sarah indicated the door across the hall. "Through there. Frank found a toiletry kit and change of clothes in your car and put them in there."

"Wow." William raised his eyebrows, a little surprised that the older man had thought to bring those in. "I'll be right down."

She patted his arm. "Take your time. We're just having lunch now."

"Sounds delicious." He smiled and slipped into the bathroom to shower and change. By the time he finished shaving, he felt even better.

Exiting the bathroom, William descended the stairs and walked into the kitchen. He found Frank, Sarah, Victoria, and Ivan all seated around the table with plates in front of them. Frank noticed him first and grinned when he saw him, "You're looking more like a human being now and less like death warmed over."

"Francis!" Victoria swatted the man's shoulder as she stood up to scoop up a plate of food from a big pot on the stove. "You could be nicer to the man. His family's been kidnapped after all."

William smiled and accepted the plate from her, sitting down next to Sarah. "It's all right, Ma'am. I _did_ look awful."

"Please don't call me ma'am," she replied, setting a cup of coffee next to his plate. "I'm not the Queen of England after all. Victoria will be just fine."

He took a bite of the food as she resumed her seat between Ivan and Frank. "What if I called you Ms. Winslow?"

"No." She gave him a stern look as Ivan wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Victoria."

William nodded and turned his attention to the food in front of him, surprised at how hungry he was, despite the situation. The others continued their discussion with Sarah asking, "Where did Marvin go so early in the morning?"

"Research," Frank told her, sipping his coffee. "He likes to know everything he possibly can about his friends and enemies. You saw his file room."

William guessed Marvin was the other bald man, who'd been so cautious about drinking the coffee last night. Victoria rolled her eyes, "It's because he's so paranoid. He wants to make sure his friends won't stab him in the back."

"Given our line of work, can you blame him?" Ivan asked, rubbing her shoulder lightly.

She smiled faintly as she leaned into him. Watching them, William was reminded of his parents. _Though I doubt Mother could hold off a whole squad of Secret Service Agents the way she did..._

"What are you smiling about?" Sarah nudged William, her eyes curious.

Before he could respond, his cell phone rang. Except the ring wasn't coming from his pocket, but Ivan's jacket pocket. He frowned when Ivan held up one finger and pulled out two phones: William's and one that was identical to it. Both of them were ringing. Ivan pressed a few buttons on one phone, and then slid the other across the table to William. Cautiously, he accepted the call and put the phone to his ear. "Cooper."

"Hello, William." The voice that answered was unfamiliar to him and he looked at the others. Ivan and Victoria were gazing intently at the phone Ivan held while Frank and Sarah were watching him.

Returning his attention to the phone conversation, he asked, "Who the hell is this?"

"We have unfinished business, William." He swallowed at that, a chill running down his spine.

Keeping his voice calm and level, he inquired, "What business is that?"

"Dirty pool, what happened to Alexander Dunning." The voice was hard and angry now.

He shrugged helplessly at Sarah and Frank. "What are you talking about?"

"William, William…you’re not telling the whole truth now." Now the voice was almost jovial, but still cold.

Trying to keep the man talking for as long as possible, he told him, "You're going to have to be more specific."

There was a rustle and then William's heart stopped. Three familiar voices could be heard in the background: his wife and children. "Dad!" "Oh, God, William! Help us!" "Daddy!"

"What the hell is this?" he whispered, shaking in spite of his determination to remain calm, tears blurring his vision.

Another rustle and the stranger's voice came back, "You came out rather well after that whole episode at the power plant, didn’t you? After all, you saved the Vice President of the United States…a promotion…a nice raise…I’ll bet they even gave you a medal…"

"What do you want?" he demanded, his voice gaining strength now that he knew what the kidnapping was about.

The man's answer was practically snarled, "I want Marvin."

"Marvin? Marvin who?" William frowned, looking at the others, seeing surprise and worry on their faces.

The man's voice was a growl now, "You know very well who I mean. He put a bullet in Dunning's head. Now I want his."

"Or what?" He was putting on a brave face, but the food he'd just eaten sat in his stomach like lead and his head was spinning.

False joviality entered the stranger's voice, "Come now, William, let’s not play this game. Here, ask your son how serious this situation is."

"Dad?" The sound of Matthew's voice brought tears to William's eyes.

His hand tightened around his phone. "Matthew! Matthew, I’m here, son. I’m here, buddy. Are you okay?"

"Yeah." There was obvious terror in Matthew's voice. "Dad, hurry and come get us."

William's heart felt like it was breaking, but he tried to inject as much assurance as he could into his voice when he replied, "As fast I can, buddy. Are Mom and Tabitha okay?"

"Yeah." His son seemed to hesitate for a moment. "Dad?"

Keeping his voice calm and steady, he asked, "What is it, Matthew?"

"Do you remember when we went to the beach once? Remember the birds? You said that they hang out by the docks because they find more food there, right?" Matthew said the words all in a rush, his voice breathless by the end of his speech.

William nodded even though Matthew couldn't see it. "That’s right, buddy, you just keep thinking good things, okay? I’m going to be there soon and then we’re all going home."

"That’s quite enough of that." The stranger's voice responded instead of Matthew's and William would have dearly loved to punch the man. "I think we have an understanding, do we not? You bring me Marvin, dead or alive, and your family can go back to their quiet little lives. Lie to me…trick me…fail to follow my directions…and I will make lovely Michelle and your charming little children wish that I had simply killed them to begin with."

"No!" His voice broke at the thought of what this sadistic bastard would do to his family.

He could practically _hear_ the smirk in the stranger's voice. "Then do as I say, William."

"Don't! Please don't hurt my family!" He didn't care now that he was begging. His only thought was for his family, for keeping them safe.

The response he received was businesslike and brisk. "Give me what I want. Give me Marvin."

"How?" He had no idea who the kidnapper was, let alone _where_ he was.

"We’ll talk again soon." There was a click and complete silence.

William stared at his phone for a long moment, his heart thumping against his ribs and his stomach twisting itself into knots. He jumped when someone touched his hand and looked up to see Victoria standing beside him, her gaze sympathetic but determined. "We _will_ get them back for you, William."

"He has my family," he whispered, dropping his phone onto the table with a clatter. Determined not to let them see him break down, he got up and dashed out the front door. Only out in the front yard, under the tree, did he let the tears fall. _Chelle, Matt, Tabby, I'm so sorry I didn't protect you better!_

 **End**

**Author's Note:**

> 1 Translation: _"Thank you."_


End file.
